The present invention relates to a packaging apparatus and, in particular, an assembly for separately packaging and extemporaneously mixing at least two products. The two products may be mixed to form a composition, for example, a cosmetic composition, as used, for example, in the area of hair dyeing.
Home hair dyeing systems typically use two types of dye formula: creams packaged in an aluminum tube and gels packaged in a rigid bottle. Home hair dyeing systems may also utilize an oxidizing agent contained in a somewhat rigid bottle, often referred to as a xe2x80x9csqueezy bottle.xe2x80x9d Alternatively, the oxidizing agent may be included in a system intended for automatically mixing the composition.
A great demand presently exists for the relatively rigid squeezy bottle to be replaced by a tube with more flexible walls into which the dye may be introduced at the time that the dye composition is to be used. Solutions have been proposed which are aimed at allowing a first tube, for example, a tube made of aluminum, containing a dye in the form of a cream, to be coupled to a second tube, for example, a tube made of thermoplastic, containing the oxidizing agent. Inverting one tube onto the other does not pose any problem when the tube to be inverted contains a product in the form of a cream. Once the two tubes have been coupled, all that is necessary is for pressure to be exerted on the walls of the tube containing the dye so as to drive its contents into the xe2x80x9creceivingxe2x80x9d tube containing the oxidizing agent. An air vent may be provided to compensate for the increase in volume of the product inside the receiving tube.
These proposed solutions pose may problems. First, between the instant that the tube containing the dye is opened and the instant that it is coupled in a sealed manner to the receiving tube, a certain space of time elapses during which the somewhat unpleasant smell of the dye (generally ammonia-based) spreads into the atmosphere. Furthermore, during this space of time, the dye is in contact with the air. This contact with the air gives rise, through oxidation, to degradation of the dye. Such degradation differs in intensity depending on the time required to manipulate the dye into the tube containing the oxidizing agent. Furthermore, when the dye and the oxidizing agent are in liquid form, it is difficult, if not impossible, to invert one of the tubes onto the other without spilling liquid through the joint between the two containers.
In the field of medicinal products, a relatively complicated system has been proposed for mixing a pharmaceutically active ingredient, particularly in solid form, with a solvent or diluent contained in a separate container. In this system, a first container containing the active ingredient is closed by a ball which is expelled into the first container when the second container containing the solvent is engaged with the first container via a coupling member provided on the second container so as to allow the two products to be mixed. Such a system is described in European Patent Publication No. 0 529 595.
One of the objectives of the system proposed in the ""595 publication aims to avoid the stoppering device, in this instance the ball, dropping into the container from which the mixture will be taken. As a result, in order to homogenize the mixture, the device is turned head down so that the solvent is transferred into the first container, where it can be mixed homogeneously with the active ingredient. Once the mixture has been homogenized, the device is turned the other way up so as to allow the mixture produced to be transferred into the second container from which it can be dispensed.
This proposed device is complex in its production and in its use. The coupling member mounted on the second container prevents access to the mixture in the second container via the opening through which the two products were brought into contact with one another. Therefore, an auxiliary opening at the other end of the second container has to be provided. The mechanism that expels the ball is not particularly reliable. In addition, the mechanism that expels the ball takes up a substantial amount of space in the respective openings of each of the containers, which makes transferring liquid from one of the containers to the other difficult, particularly in the case of liquids of relatively high viscosity.
Another configuration is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,386,696. In this disclosed configuration, the coupling means and the removable stopper are configured in such a way that when the first container is engaged with the second container, the removable stopper is not ejected. Thus, the profiles of the plug and/or the container in which mixing takes place are chosen accordingly. It is only in response to a movement in the opposite direction, that is, a movement aimed at disengaging the first and second containers from one another, that the removable stopper is ejected. Depending on the exact design, the movements involved are sometimes complicated, and successful opening could be somewhat unpredictable.
According to one optional aspect of the invention, an assembly for mixing at least two products comprises a first container and a second container. The first container contains a first product and delimits a first opening. A removable stopper is associated with the first opening. The second container contains a second product and delimits a second opening. The first coupling member and the removable stopper are configured such that the first coupling member engages the removable stopper during establishment of a connection between the first container and the second container and the removable stopper passes into the second container so as to expose the first opening and allow the first product and the second product to be brought into contact with one another. For example, the first coupling member could engage the stopper when the first container engages the second container and during establishment of a connection between the first container and the second container (e.g., the stopper engagement could take place shortly after initial engagement of the containers). The products could, for example, be brought into contact by passing the first product and/or the second product through the first and second openings.
According to another optional aspect of the invention, a product packaging system comprises a first container containing a first product and delimiting a first opening and a second container containing a second product and delimiting a second opening. A removable stopper may be associated with the first opening. The second container may comprise one or more camming members projecting from a surface of the second container. One or each camming member may be configured to engage the stopper and to expose the first opening and allow the first product and the second product to be brought into contact with one another. For example, this stopper removal could take place as the first container is connected to the second container.
According to still another optional aspect of the invention, a method of forming a mixture of at least two products comprises providing a system comprising a first product packaged in a first container, a removable stopper provided in a first opening of the first container, and a second product in a second container, wherein the second container comprises a second opening. The first container is connected to the second container. The method further comprises removing the stopper from the opening while the first container is being connected to the second container, passing the stopper into the second container, and mixing the first product and the second product.
According to yet another optional aspect of the invention, a method of preparing and applying a cosmetic composition is provided. The method comprises providing an assembly or system, mixing the first product and the second product together to prepare a cosmetic composition, dispensing cosmetic composition from the assembly, and applying the cosmetic composition to at least one of skin and hair.
According to still another optional aspect of the invention, an assembly for mixing at least two products comprises a first container and a second container. The first container contains a first product and delimits a first opening. A removable stopper is associated with the first opening. The second container contains a second product and delimits a second opening. During establishment of a connection between the first container and the second container, the first coupling member is configured to engage the removable stopper and move the removable stopper in a direction toward the second container so as to expose the first opening and allow the first product and the second product to be brought into contact with one another.
According to one optional embodiment of the invention, an assembly for the separate packaging and extemporaneous mixing of two products is provided. The two products may be mixed to form a composition, for example, a cosmetic composition. The assembly may comprise a first container containing a first product and delimiting a first opening and a second container containing a second product and delimiting a second opening. A removable stopper may be associated with the first opening. The second container may comprise a first coupling member being configured, when the first container is engaged with the second, to engage the removable stopper so as to uncover the first opening and to cause the removable stopper to pass into the second container so as to allow the first and second products to be brought into contact with one another via the first and second openings.
In an optional embodiment, rather than having a movement aimed at disengaging the first and second containers from one another cause mixing of the first and second products to occur, the engagement of the first and second containers may cause the removable stopper and the first coupling member to interact and enable mixing. In other words, when the first container is mounted on the second container according to this optional arrangement, mixing may take place; this could be in contrast to some conventional arrangements where mixing takes place during disassembly.
Optionally, the first and second products may be mixed in the second container. Mixing in the second container may make manipulation easier because, if the mixing were to take place in the first container, a removable stopper in the second container may impede the flow of the second product into the first container. Furthermore, when the first container contains a highly oxidizable product, for example, a dye, it may be beneficial to minimize the volume of air above the free surface of the product. As a result, the first container may not have a great enough volume for the first and second products to be mixed therein. In addition, the removable stopper may act as a stirrer to homogenize the mixture.
Optionally, the first and second products may be liquids. The first product may have a viscosity low enough that the first product can flow under gravity. In the case of a first product having a relatively high viscosity, the first container may comprise deformable walls so as to encourage the first product to be expelled into the second container. Alternatively, one of the products may be a powder.
A device according to the invention may be simple to use and economical to produce. Assuming that one of the products is readily oxidizable in contact with air and/or gives off an unpleasant smell, it may be stored in the first container. Indeed, once the removable stopper is in the second container and when the composition is mixed, the product contained in the first container may flow into the second without contacting the external air. When the stopper is released into the second container, the stopper could contribute to homogenizing the mixture before it is dispensed, without additional transferring operations needing to be performed. Furthermore, the stopper released into the second container optionally does not interfere with the flow of product from the first container to the second container. When the first container is engaged with the second container, there might be no unwanted flow of product transferred from the first container to the second container, regardless of the viscosity of the product.
The first and second containers may be initially disassociated from one another so that the assembly can be stored in external packaging, for example, cardboard packaging, of small size, for example, in terms of height, which also gives greater stability.
In one optional embodiment, the first container comprises a second coupling member capable of allowing the first container to engage with the second container. The second coupling member may make it easier for the product to be transferred from the first container to the second without unwanted flow at the joint between the first and second containers. Optionally, the coupling is reversible. In such a situation, the composition mixed, for example, in the second container may be dispensed through the same opening through which the product contained in the first container was conveyed into the second container. The second coupling member may comprise a screw thread intended to collaborate with a corresponding screw thread provided on a neck of the first container. Thus, the second coupling member may be mounted on the first container. Alternatively, the second coupling member may be mounted to the first container by other known devices, for example, by snap-fastening.
According to another optional embodiment, the second coupling member may comprise a first screw thread configured to cooperate with a corresponding screw thread provided on the second container so as to allow the first coupling member to engage with the removable stopper. In addition, the second coupling member may comprise an edge delimiting the first opening in which the removable stopper may be mounted. The removable stopper may be force-fitted into the first opening or, alternatively, it may be screwed in.
Optionally, the first coupling member may be rotationally fixed relative to the second container. Such rotational immobilization may be afforded, for example, by the collaboration of appropriate teeth and grooves.
According to another optional embodiment, the first coupling member may be configured in such a way as, in response to the relative rotation of one of the containers with respect to the other, to cause axial and angular movement of the removable stopper such that the stopper disengages from the first coupling member and is released into the second container. For this purpose, the first coupling member may be configured in the form of a sleeve. The sleeve may comprise an edge delimiting the second opening and an interior surface having one or more camming members configured to cooperate with one or more corresponding camming members provided on an exterior surface of the removable stopper. The camming members may be configured, for example, as screw threads or ramps.
Optionally, before being engaged with one another with a view toward mixing, the first and second containers may each be associated with a removable cap. The cap associated with the first container may have a screw thread configured to cooperate with the first screw thread of the second coupling member. The cap associated with the second container may comprise a screw thread configured to cooperate with the screw thread provided on the neck of the second container.
The cap associated with the first container may include a portion configured to engage the removable stopper so as to prevent the removable stopper from being accidentally removed, for example, when the assembly is being transported or stored. Such engaging may simply comprise the cap bearing on a corresponding surface of the removable stopper.
According to yet another optional embodiment, the cap associated with the second container may be configured in the form of an applicator tip. Also, the first container may be reversibly engaged with the second container so that once the first and second products have been mixed, the first and second containers can be disengaged from one another. Then, the cap formed as an applicator tip may be positioned back on the second container so as to allow localized application of the composition to a surface that is to be treated. The applicator tip may comprise a break-off end, the twisting of which, for example, by a movement about the axis of the tip, may make it possible to uncover an applicator orifice.
The second container may be configured, for example, in the form of a tube. The second container may comprise a shoulder separating the body of the container from a neck of the container where the first coupling member may be mounted. The shoulder may be configured such that when the second container rests flat on a surface, the level of product in the second container is below the lowermost point of the second opening. Thus, having removed the cap associated with the second container and while removing the cap associated with the first container, the user may lay the second container flat on a flat surface, with no risk that the product will spill out unintentionally.
The first container may comprise a bottle, for example, a bottle made of polyvinyl chloride or of glass. Alternatively, the first container may comprise a tube, for example, a tube made of aluminum. The second container may comprise a bottle or a tube made, for example, of polyethylene, with at least one wall that can be deformed elastically in response to pressure exerted at a right angle to the at least one wall. Therefore, the composition may be forced to exit by pressing the at least one wall of the second container. Alternatively, in the case of a second container with walls which are not appreciably deformable, the mixture may be dispensed under gravity, for example, in the case of a highly fluid mixture, or, in the case of a mixture which is not as fluid, by using a manually operated pump, for example, a pump having an applicator tip provided thereon.
The assembly may be used, for example, to prepare a cosmetic composition, for example, a hair composition. In one optional embodiment, the first product may comprise a dye, and the second product may comprise an oxidizing agent.
Aside from the structural and procedural arrangement set forth above, there could be a number of other arrangements, such as those explained hereinafter. It is to be understood that both the foregoing description and the following description are exemplary.
The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of certain aspects and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate an optional embodiment and, together with the description, serve to explain certain principles.